paris

British Airways-Iberia to own 90% of Vueling after many shareholders decided to accept the takeover offer

April 24, 2013 12:08 AM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

IAG, the company resulting from the merger of British Airways and Iberia, improved its initial offer from €7 per share to €9.25 to buy 100% of the Catalan airline’s shares. Iberia already owned 45.85% of Vueling and the IAG offer aimed to buy the remaining 54.15%. However, IAG had already stated the operation would still be carried out if it could buy 4.16% of Vueling’s share, in order to own 50.01% of the airline. Finally, more than four fifths of the remaining shareholders decided to sell their stocks to IAG. The international airline will buy 44.66% of Vueling’s shares and then it will own 90.51% of the company based in Barcelona El Prat Airport. Vueling is one of the few European airlines that has made a profit in the last few years. It has a competitive business model, flying to more than 200 destinations.

FC Barcelona's Assistant Manager: "Only victory guarantees us a spot in the semi-finals"

April 9, 2013 11:08 PM | Aleix Santacana

Barça’s Assistant Manager, Jordi Roura says that Barça will be ambitious against PSG on Wednesday’s second leg game. Roura, who take care of Barça during Tito Vilanova’s absence, notes that only victory would guarantee a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League. On Messi, Adriano and Pedro's fitness, Barça's assistant manager says that “we have to wait and see how they feel and we especially have to see the results from their latest medical tests”. Nevertheless, Messi trained on Tuesday with the rest of his team-mates, although he has not received the medical all-clear yet.

FC Barcelona vs. Mallorca: Five goal win as Abidal makes return (5-0)

April 7, 2013 08:37 PM | Jordi Clos

Three goals from Cesc Fàbregas and a brace from Alexis gave Barça a 5-0 win over Mallorca in a game that marked the re-appearance of Eric Abidal after being one year out of the pitch due to a liver transplant. Furthermore, Tito Vilanova re-appeared at the Cam Nou bench after returning from New York where he received cancer treatment. The FC Barcelona fans warmly welcomed Vilanova and Abidal, in a true night to remember. So, with Tito back on the bench and Abidal on the pitch, Barça rounded off the perfect preparation for Wednesday night’s Champions League big game against PSG.

Paris’ Pompidou Centre to host an exhibition on contemporary Catalan film-maker Albert Serra

April 5, 2013 01:23 AM | CNA / Mar Rocabert

The President of the Parisian centre, Alain Seban, compared Albert Serra’s work to that of Salvador Dalí, who he said was “another brilliant Catalan”. The Pompidou Centre will show Serra’s films, including his most recent one: ‘The three little pigs’ (2012), which is an experiment on Goethe, Hitler and Fassbinder and lasts 101 hours. ‘Honor de cavalleria’ (‘Knighthood honour’ in English, from 2006) and ‘El cant dels ocells’ (‘Song of the birds’, from 2008) will also be shown. The exhibition will run in the French capital from the 17th of April to the 12th of May. In addition, the Parisian museum will organise debates, such as the one on bullfighting with Serra and the painter Miquel Barceló.

Messi to miss next weekend game but he could be ready by Wednesday to face the PSG

April 3, 2013 08:16 PM | CNA

Leo Messi will miss the next Spanish League match after his injury in Paris, in the first leg of the Champions League’s quarters with the PSG. However, Messi’s availability after the weekend will depend on his progress and therefore he could be ready by Wednesday to face the PSG at the Camp Nou for the return leg. The last time Messi suffered a similar injury was on March 2008 against Glasgow Celtic and on that occasion he was out for five weeks.

PSG vs. FC Barcelona: Cruel ending for Barça in Paris (2-2)

April 3, 2013 03:29 AM | Roger Bogunyà

A 94th minute goal from Matuidi gave Paris Saint-Germain a draw after Messi and Mascherano had both come off injured. Barça went ahead in the first half thanks to a goal from Messi, who failed to reappear after the break after picking up a hamstring injury, before Ibrahimovic brought the teams level with ten minutes left to play. Xavi then slotted home a penalty on 88 minutes which appeared to have given Barça a win, only for Bartra to get the slightest of ricochets on a Matuidi shot in the dying seconds and help it past Valdes.

Catalan literature on show at the 2013 Paris Book Fair since Barcelona is this year’s guest city

March 22, 2013 11:03 PM | CNA / Violeta Gumà

Classic and contemporary authors from Catalonia, writing in Catalan or in Spanish, are one of the main attractions of this year’s Salon du Livre in Paris, which is one of the main book fairs internationally. Running from Friday the 22nd to Monday the 25th of March in the French capital, this year the book fair has Barcelona as its guest city under the title ‘Barcelona, ville des prodiges’. The Institut Ramon Llull, the public body in charge of promoting Catalan culture abroad, is organising the presence of Catalan literature at the fair. During the first day, the visitors were mainly interested in Eduardo Mendoza, Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Josep Pla, who wrote ‘The Grey Notebook’ which has just been translated into French.

FC Barcelona drawn against Paris Saint Germain at the Champions League quarters

March 15, 2013 08:28 PM | CNA

Barça have been drawn to play PSG in the last eight of the Champions League. The first leg will be played in Paris’s Parc des Princes on the 2nd of April and the return game will be in Barcelona’s Camp Nou on the 10th of April. The Parisian outfit has made it into the quarter finals for the first time in 19 years after spending 240 million euros in two seasons. The other matches are Real Madrid vs Galatasaray, Bayern Munich vs Juventus and Málaga vs Borussia Dortmund.

Barcelona-based Vueling tripled its profits in 2012 and became the third airline in Paris-Orly

February 27, 2013 10:44 PM | CNA

Vueling earned a net profit of €28.3 million in 2012, almost three times more than the €10.3 million of 2011. It transported 14.8 million passengers, 20.1% more than in the previous year, with an occupancy rate of 77.7%. The Barcelona-based airline continues with its international expansion, especially in Western Europe, and it has become the third largest airline in Paris-Orly and Roma-Fiumicino. It also increased the passenger traffic share it controls in Barcelona El Prat Airport by up to 30%. The total revenue reached €1.103 billion last year, 27.7% more than in 2011. Vueling occupied part of the market share left by Spanair in Barcelona. Besides. the Spanish Stock Market Authority has authorised IAG’s take-over operation of Vueling, aiming to take total control of the Catalan company.

The Paris Centre Pompidou is devoted to Salvador Dalí

November 21, 2012 12:04 AM | CNA

The French Arts Centre is organising one of the largest and most complete retrospective exhibitions on the Catalan artist. 33 years ago, when Dalí was still alive, the Centre Pompidou held a retrospective of his work. In the 2012 exhibition, which will run until the 25th of March 2013, it is claimed that Dalí is one of the most influential artists ever, who not only shaped surrealism but also pop art. The exhibition is full of masterpieces, such as the soft and melting pocket watches of The Persistence of Memory (1931), The Great Masturbator (1929) and Mae West’s room, shown in the Dalí museum in Figueres.

FC Barcelona win Paris Trophy (2-2)

August 5, 2012 05:53 PM | Aleix Santacana

Barça won the Paris Trophy beating PSG on penalties after Messi and Rafinha had scored to make it 2-2 at full time. After the friendlies in Hamburg (1-2) and Tangier (0-8), this was a tougher test for Tito Villanova’s men, as Carlos Ancelotti’s much reinforced PSG , who are looking to be a force in the European game this coming season, held them to a 2-2 draw at the Parc de Principes, before the visitors won on penalties.